Outdoor Gear: Reasons To Bring a Multi-Tool on Your Camping Trips

by Grace Evans March 25, 2019

When it comes to packing for a camping trip, the key is to do it lightly – bringing only the most essential gear. Especially if you’re backpacking. After all, you don’t want to carry so much weight that your legs give out even before you’ve pitched the tent. With that being said, a good multi-tool can reduce the number of things you have to take with you and serve as a valuable addition to your camping kit. Here are some situations in which a multi-tool can prove to be a really helpful device.

Setting Up Tent

You don’t have to bring a heavy hammer to drive the tent stakes into the ground. It will only weigh you down on the trail. A good multi-tool with ample surface area to allow you to give stakes a good whack might be a more convenient solution. When you’re ready to pack up, you can use the pliers that most multi-tools have to grab a hold of the stake and pull it out. If a stake somehow gets damaged or stuck in the ground, you can use the knife and saw from the tool to devise your own stake out of wood. Such a multi-tool can be bought at most outdoor gear stores.

Starting a Campfire

At some professional outdoor gear stores, you can even find multi-tools that come with a fire-starting Ferro rod. This feature can be used to start a campfire and cook up something delicious. What’s more, if the multi-tool comes with pliers, you can use them as pincers to flip the things you’re grilling and get the perfect crisp.

Opening Cans

Canned food is a camping essential, but you can’t exactly open the cans with your bare hands. Rather than bringing along a can opener, make sure to look for a multi-tool that comes with this feature. Most of them have one, and some advanced models even come with a bottle opener if you want to enjoy the breathtaking scenery while sipping on a bottle of cold beer.

Emergency Situations

When your safety is concerned, a multi-tool can be the best thing to carry around in your pocket. It can be used to help you in emergency situations when you don’t have a first aid kit near you. Like for instance, if you need to pull a splinter or other objects from your skin, or to cut through a sleeve to fasten a quick bandage.

Cracking Ice

If you’re an adventure seeker who doesn’t let winter get in the way of his outdoor expeditions, a camping multi-tool is a must. If you wake up to find your gear completely frozen over, you can simply whip out the awl from the device and start chiseling until the ice breaks.